“That’s correct.”
Behind her, Chaz flung his arms up in the air. God only knew what that was supposed to mean. I didn’t understand what direction Kelly was attempting to steer me, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to play her game.
“I delivered pizza for extra money,” I said, trying to smile again. “It helped make our lives more comfortable. And it was just by chance, during one of those shifts, that I stumbled upon Devon Ray.”
“It was love at first sight, wasn’t it?” Kelly gushed.
It most certainly was not. Devon had made a drunken pass at me, and I’d rebuffed him by snapping a photo of him at his lowest point.
“I was certainly surprised,” I said, chuckling. “I guess there’s a lesson in that, Kelly. You never know what’s going to be behind the doors you open.”
“Very inspirational,” she said, nodding wisely. “June, I want to get back to your grandmother. Devon visited her. She was his biggest fan.”
I swallowed. “That’s correct.” Chaz made an elaborate pantomime that conveyed the idea that he was going to hang himself. What did he want me to do? Burst into tears?
“Do you think you attached yourself to Devon because after she died, there was no one else to help you?”
The idea was so ludicrous that I snorted at her. “Really?”
“Pardon?”
“Devon and I…we fell in love with each other,” I said. “It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t like a fairy tale. Not at first. It was awkward and messy and confusing and weird and wonderful. It wasn’t something you could wrap up in a bow, Kelly. We stumbled upon each other at strange and difficult points of our lives. And what we have right now is real. And amazing.”
I looked past Kelly as she took a moment to shuffle her notecards, noticing that Chaz and Devon were standing perfectly still. I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but I was done playing dumb. If Kelly asked me another stupid question, I was going to eviscerate her—live television interview or not.
“Why was it that your grandmother was the one who raised you, June?”
Kelly propped her chin up on her hand as if she were helping me to think up the answer to the question. I had no idea what she thought I should say.
“I think it’s because family sticks together, Kelly,” I said, adopting her same ponderous tone.
“Because your parents weren’t fit to raise you,” she said.
I cocked my head at her, blood roaring in my ears. “What?”
“I said, because your parents weren’t fit to raise you,” she said loudly, oblivious to my growing anger. I noticed that Chaz had laid an arm on Devon behind Kelly.
I exhaled until my lungs were completely empty, then drew in a fresh breath of air. “I think that I would prefer to stay on topic here. My family is not up for discussion.”
“June, darling, the sole purpose of this interview is to let America know just who you are,” Kelly said. “Didn’t you agree to that?”
“I just wanted to make sure they knew that I look like a normal human being,” I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder. “Not like that awful photo you showed earlier.”
“Don’t normal human beings have families? Parents?”
If she had a point, I was failing to see it—and failing hard. Chaz and Devon were becoming huge distractions behind Kelly, both of them arguing heatedly but silently.
“What I’m trying to say, June, is wouldn’t you want to meet the people responsible for your creation?” Kelly’s luminous eyelashes fluttered slightly. “It’s really quite moving the lengths they’ve gone through to find you.”
“I don’t think I understand what’s happening,” I said. “I think we should probably jump to a commercial break. Those are still a thing, right? Wouldn’t a commercial be nice right about now?”
“June, what would you say if you knew your parents were watching you right now?”
Chaz and Devon stopped their bickering, frozen behind Kelly, and still I failed to understand where this was going.
“I wouldn’t say anything,” I said. “My grandmother is the only parent I’ve ever known. I haven’t needed anyone other than her. You said it yourself. She raised me. I don’t know anyone else.”
“June, turn around.”
I looked cautiously over my shoulder in case there was a bear or something immediately threatening my life, but was faced with two people on the big screen behind us. Neither of them looked familiar. The man wore a torn jean jacket, and he shifted from foot to foot. He had a shock of dark hair that looked like the only styling it had seen was the wind. The woman was dark-haired, too, with large, melancholy eyes. She stood completely still, clasping her hands, the cardigan over her bony shoulders looking as if it were carefully picked out for this very situation.